Submarine air lock



March 10,l 1931.

gag I MMlmlm .WW

March l0, 1 F. Q'ROURKE w SUBMARINE AIR LOCK Filed March 24. 1928 2Sheets-Sheet 2 ENTOR ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 1o; 193i UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE JOHN r. onouaxnor NEW Yonx, N. Y.

SUBMARINE .am Loox Application :tiled March 24, 1928. Serial No.264,523.

The object of my invention is to provide a portable air lock by means ofwhich a crew may have access to submerged objects or vessels, or toground underlying water, and for various other purposes where the crewmust be protected against external water. In my applications, SerialNos. 105,676 and 264,521, I showed and described apparatus for the samegeneral purposes and the present case covers features which may beutilized in conjunction with or in addition to the features disclosed insaid applications. The submarine air lock disclosed herein permits workto be carried on while it is submerged in water of considerable depthand the device is portable both in the sense that it may be moved fromone location to another byfmeans of hoisting apparatus on a vessel onthe surface, and also in the sense that the crew accompanying the airlock may, in their submerged positions, move the air lock to change itsposition from place to place on the bottom, and also to get it intoproper relation to a submerged or sunken vessel for the purpose ofsalvaging the latter or rescuing persons entrapped therein.

The present invention is especially useful in rescuing persons from asubmerged ves Vsel and it consists, essentially, of a chamber,preferably of cylindrical form, which is divided oi into an uppercompartment and a lower compartment, the former of which is preferablyconsiderably larger than the lower compartment in order to have a largecapacity for receiving the persons being rescued. The lower compartmentis relatively smaller and has an open bottom and it is adapted to besupplied with compressed air to exclude the entry of water through theopen bottom. This lower compartment is of suitable size to betemporarily attached by a water-excluding connection with a portion or"the submerged vessel, so that the -chamber surrounds and encloses aportion of the deck or hull plate of the submerged vessel in order topermit rescue operations to be carried on, either .through the hatchwayofthe submerged vessel, or through an opening formed therein by the crewof the diving apparatus' for they purpose. The lower chamber may beentirely segregated, as far as air pressures are concerned, from thelarger upper chamber. The compressed air for excluding water from theopen bottom during the lowering of the apparatus need only-be suppliedto the lower chamber, so that the upper chamber remains at atmosphericpressure. While the apparatus is being lowered and shifted into positionalong the bottom or onto the deck of the submerged vessel, preparatoryto rescue operations, members of the crew may be located in the largerand upper compartment Where there are provided suitable instruments suchas telephones, lights, com pressed air apparatus, and a ship compass forcommunicating instructions to the surface -vessel regarding the desiredmovements of the air lock by suitable tackle on the surface vessel. Someof these instruments may also be used for controlling the admission ofcompressed air into the lower compartment.

During the lowering operation there is maintained compressed air in thelower compartment, sufficient to overcome the external water pressureand prevent the water entering the open bottom During this `sameperiodthe upper compartment may beat at-r mospheric pressure. The crewoperating in the upper compartment will direct the -positioning of theair lock toward the submerged vessel and finally onto the deckapproximately to theplinal position. Compressed air is then admittedinto the upper compartment until the pressures in both compartments areequalized and then the door controlling the passage between thecompartments may be opened and the crew may descend to the lowercompartment where they. will carry on the final positioning operations.The lower compartment is preferably provided with a duplicate set ofinstruments for communicating with the surface Vessel and for othercontrol and positioning purposes and also with a valve controlling theadmission of compressed air to the lower compartment, there beingcompressed air connections to the lower as well as to the uppercompartment.

When .the chamber has been brought into position on the submerged vesseland fastened thereto so that a water-tight connection has beenestablished between the lower' compartment of the chamber and thesubmerged vessel, the compressed air within the chamber may be blown offat a suitable rate of decompression to reduce the chamber eitherl toatmospheric pressure or to that in the submerged vessel. After theattachment to the submerged vessel has been accomplished and thecompressed air blown off, the rescue or salvaging operations may becarried on while the crew is working in atmospheric pressure. After thehatch of the vessel has een opened persons pass from the submergedvessel into the lower and thence into the upper compartment of the airlock. The hatch' is closed and the attaching means is then released fromthe submerged vessel and the crew also passes into the upper compartmentof the air lock. The door between the two compartments is closed, andthen compressed air is admitted into the lower comartment until itequals the water pressure at the bottom of the chamber. The apparatus isthen hoisted to the surface. It will be apparent from the foregoingdescription that the time during which members of the crew are requiredto be in compressed air during an entire rescue or salvaging operationis only the brief period required to shift the1 apparatus along'the decktothe attaching ring surrounding the hatch and to secure the apparatusto the deck of the vessel. As this is amatt'er of a short period thecrew was quickly decompressed when the compressed air was blown off justbefore the hatch was opened. Subsequent operations are carried on inatmospheric pressure. The rescued persons are never subjected tocompressed air and neither is-the crew in compressed air subsequent tothe opening of the hatch.

lin the drawings forming part of this application,

Figure 1 is an elevation with parts broken away and showing the air lockabout` to be applied to the deck of a submerged vessel,

Figure 2 is a Vertical, sectional view through the air lock and aportion of the deck of the submerged vessel, and showing the air locksecured to the vessel, l

Figure 8 is a sectional View taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2, A

Figure 4 is a sectional view line 1 -4 of Figure 1,

Figure 5 is a plan view of the air lock with a portion broken away,

y Figure 6 is a sectional view showing one of the devices forcontrollingthe movable weights,

Figure 7 is a sectional view taken on the line 7 -7 of Figure 2, and

Figure 8 is an enlarged view showing the means for connecting the airlock with the submerged vessel..

have shown the air lockas cylindrical in form although it will beunderstood that it taken on the top wall 4. These walls form acompartment 5. Preferably there are provided fins 6 prowhich beams arecovered by and are secured to a jecting upwardly from the top, whichserve Y to prevent the device from spinning while suspended from thehoisting apparatus.

The compartment 5, formed by the construction just described, is oflarger lateral dimension than the lower compartment hereinafterdescribed, in order that it may accommodate a number of persons who maybe rescued from the submerged vessel, or to hold objects which may besalvaged from the submerged vessel. The lower chamber is limited to asize which can be conveniently attached to the deck of the submergedvessel. The upper compartment may be of any size to receive acomparatively large number of persons. There is a lower, cylindricalwall 7 forming the lower compartment 8 and it is attached to the upperstructure by means of the rings 9 of angle metal which are attached ktothe cylindrical wall 7 and to the bottom wall 10'. The wall 10 forms thebottom for the upper compartment and it also divides the upper and lowercompartments 5, 8 from each other, and therefore divides the air lockinto the separate compartments. There is a door 11 preferably adapted toswing downwardly to close the opening 12 in the dividing wall 10 inorder to completethe separation of the two compartments in an air-tightmanf ner when closed, land to permit passage between the compartmentswhen open. I have also shown I beams 13 extending across the upperportion of the lower compartment and connected with the dividing wall 10to stiffen and strengthen the construction ofthe apparatus. i

The bottom of the apparatus is preferably constructed with similar meansfor attaching the air 'lock to the sunken vessel, as is shown in my saidco-pending application Serial No.

264,521, and it comprises an annular ring'atf Atached to the innersurface of the cylindrical wall 7, this ring being, preferably, made ofchannel metal with the vertical web 14 welded or otherwise secured tothe cylindrical wall 7. This ring has an upper, horizontally disposedflange 15 which serves as a ledge or support for certain movable weightsto be hereinafter referred to. The other horizontal ange 16 of this ringis her-e shown as 'lying flush with the bottom edge of the cylindricalwall 7; and it has attached to its bottom surface a gasket 17 ofcompressible material, preferably rubber, to form a water-tightconnection between the bottom of the air lock, and a member of thesubmerged vessel. The {iange 16 is provided with .a number of aperturesto receive the attaching bolts 18 by which thc air lock is temporarilyconnected with the submerged vessel. I have shown an angle metal ring 19welded or otherwiseV secured to the outer surface of the cylindricalwall and this forms an exterior support for the weights or ballast 20the latter being shaped to conform with the outer surface of thecylindrical wall and are held fromitipping from the ring 19 by means ofthe pins 21 in the latter which project into apertures in the weights.

Preferably, the vessel on which the rescue operations are to be carriedout is provided in vadvance with a coaming or an annular ring 22 whichis riveted or otherwise secured to the deck plate 23 of the submergedvessel, and remains a permanent part of the equipment thereof.Submarines or any other vessels may be regularly equipped with thisring.`

The deck ring is provided with tapped holes 24 on its upper side, intowhich the attaching bolts 418 are adapted to be screwed. These boltspass through the apertures in the flange 16, thence through theapertures 25 in the gasket 17, and are screwed into the holes 24 in thedeck' ring' 22, so that they draw the flange 16 toward the ring 22 andplace the gasket 17 under compression to form a watertight connectionbetween the lower end of the air lock and the submerged vessel. Wherethe ring 22 is applied to a`crowned portion of the deck plate, as shownin Figure2, the top surface of the ring will nevertheless be made flat,in order to conform to the under surface of the iiange 16.

The outer weights 20 are employed to overcome the major portion of thebuoyancy of the air lock and these require no manipulation while thediving operations Vare being carried out. However, as disclosed in mysaid co-pending applications, I prefer to provide a number of movablewei hts 26 which may be located inside the cham er and around the top ofthe iange 15y where they areheld detachably mounted on the pins 27 andthese weights are adapted to be manipulated by the crew through the openbottom of the air lock or otherwise. These weights are connected by thecables 27 with the tackle 28 which latter is connected by suitablecables 29 with the blocks 30 which are mounted upon the I beams 13forming part of the chamber structure. By means ofthe cables and tacklethe members of the crew, while located in the lower compartment 8, maymanipulate the movable weights through the open bottom of the chamber,and by means thereof effect the shifting of the air lock in relation tothe submerged vessel in order to accurately locate it in relation to thering 22 on the vessel. Or they may lift and move the air lock bodilyinto position and lower the weights to permit the air lock to rise anydesired distance fromthe decke5 when necessary. The method ofmanipulatfor the same reasons ing these Weights is set forth in theaforesaid applications.

The air lock is adapted to be raised and lowered from a surface vessel(not shown) by suitable apparatus, operating through the supportingcable 31 vtop of the air lock. There is a cable 32 in which are enclosedvarious wires and tubes for feeding compressed air from the surfacevessel tothe air lock and for atmospheric air connection with thesurface. For instance, this cable encloses the tube 33 which isconnected by-means of alwater-tight connection to the top wall of they.air lock and this tube is adapted to feed air at atmospheric pressureinto the upper compartment 5 and it is controlled by a valve 34 withinthis'compartment. A portion of the cable 32 passes through a water-tightconnection in the top wall 4 and passes-thence radially, as shown at 35,and thence down the inner side of the cylindrical wall 2 at 36, thenceacross the dividing wall 10, thence through this dividing wall and intothe lower compartment 8., Connections for the upper compartment aretaken ofi' cable 32. The cable 32 contains the necessary wires 37 toprovide'comm'unication between the telephone instrument`38 locatedwithin the lower compartment 8to a similar instrument on the surfacevessel for .transmitting instructions o`r orders from the members of thecrew while in the .lower compartment, to those on board the surfacevessel, so that the lowering and positioningz'opera` tions may beeffected according to the transmitted orders. This portion of the cablealso includes the tube 39 for furnishing compressed air tothe lowercompartment 8; and I have shown a manifold 40 connected with this tubeand having several outlets controlled vby the valves 41. Compressed airmay be discharged from any connection on the manifold into the lowercompartment, or the manifold may be used to supply compressed air todiving suits worn by, members of the crew while working through the openbottom of the air lock, where this is desirable, y 0r to operatepneumatic tools. I have also shown a ship compass 42 located in thelowel compartment, which may be referred to by the members of the crewvwhile in this compartment, for giving instructions to those on thesurface Vessel regarding shifting of the p air lock. A

Theimainl cable 32 also encloses the wires 43 which form connectionsbetween the telephone instrument 44, located within the uppercompartment 5 and corresponding in-- struments arranged on the surfacevessel. I have also shown a ship compass 45 located in the uppercompartment, so that the controlling operations may be carried on by thecrew of the air lock while located either in the upper or lowercompartment.

which is attached to the f Vopening 12 and the throughout most bf theoperations.

Operation The air lock will be lowered over the side of surface vesselby mans of the cable 31 and with suitable apparatusl on the surfacevessel. When the air lock is about to be lowered, all members of thecrew may be in the chamber 5 having passed upwardly therein through thelower compartment and through the door 11 'may then beclosed. Themembers of the crew may, therefore, remain in the upper compartmentwhich can be maintained at atmospheric pressure As the air lock islowered in the Water, the valve 46 may be manipulated in the uppercompartment for the purpose of admitting compressed air, suppliedthrough the tube 39, to the lower compartment 8, and as the door 11 isclosed, the compressed air will only be admitted to the lowercompartment, and will, therefore, not affect the members of the crew whoare in the upper compartment. rllhe compressed air admitted into thelower compartment will be suiicient to exclude water entering the airlock. It will be understood that during this lowering operation one oromore members of the crew may be located in the lower compartment,in'which case only such members will be operating in compressed air,

but this will usually be unnecessary. The P crew in the uppercompartment may transmit orders to the surface vessel, or if somemembers of the crew partment orders may be transmitted from thislocation, so that the air lock will be manipulated to bring the same torest upon the deck. .When this position has been arrived at, thencompressed air is admitted into the upper compartment until the pressurein the two compartments is `equalized to permit the door 11 to beopened, so that the crew may pass from the upper into the lowercompartment, from which they can shift the apparatus to final positionon the deck ring 22. The crew in the compartment 8 may screw the bolts18 into the holes 24 in the deck ring 22 in order to draw the flange 16toward the merged vessel when pressure on both deck ring and to compressthe gasket 17 for 'the purpose of forming a water-tight connectionbetween the air lock and the submerged vessel. llVhen the boltsl8 havebeen attached, or even some of them, compresse air may be blown off bymeans of the valve 34 so that both compartments of the air lock are nowat atmospheric pressure; or, they may be at such pressure as willcorrespond with whatever pressure may exist in the submerged vessel, ifany. This blowing off will be at a rate to safely decompress the crew.The air lock having been attached to the deck ring 22,forms an enclosurearound the hatchway 51 of the vessel and as the pressure above the hatch52 has been reduced, this hatch may be opened to permit access to thesubsides is luntil all persons are .18 from the deck ring..

are in the lower com-v ythe air lock has been d repair operations.

` equalized.. Persons within the latter may then pass into the lowercompartment 8 of the air lock and Ithence through the opening 12 intothe upper compartment 5. The la ter being of large size, willaccommodate a largenumber of persons. On the other hand, various objectsmay be moved from the submerged vessel into the upper compartment forsalvaging. c

When the persons have passed from the submerged vessel into the uppercompartment 5, or as many as the compartment will hold, the hatch 52 isa ain closed. 1f desired, some of the moveilole weights 26 may be placedon the deck of the submerged vessel within the deck ring 22, as shown inFigure 1, so that these Weights and the hand lines connected with themmay be subsequently used in guiding the Jair lock back to properposition on the deck ring of the submerged vessel in makingsubsequenttrips rescued, or for salvaging and repairs. The crew withinthe air lock will close the hatch and release the bolts The crew maythen pass through the opening 12 into the upper compartment 5, whereuponthe door 11 will be closed. The valve 46 is then opened to admit`compressed air into the lower comartment until it equals the waterpressure at the bottom, whereupon the air lock may be detached from thevessel and hoisted to the surface by the surface vessel. During theraising operation water is prevented from entering the open bottom ofthe chamber 8 by the compressed air therein. When hoisted to the surfacethe compressed air will have escaped from the lower compartment, so thatthe door 11 may be opened and all persons within the air lock may passoutwardly through the open bottom.

The rescued persons are not in compressed air during any part of therescue operations, so that'they do not have to go through adecompression operation and may-immediately leave the air lock as soonas the latter has been raised to the deck of the surface vessel. The airlock can be immediatelycreturned to the submerged vessel for thecarrying on of further rescue or salvaging or The only time any memberof the crew is required to be in compressed airis for the brief timerequired to shift the apparatus onto the ring'after the chamber has beenpositioned on the deck of of the Isubmerged Vessel and while securingbolts 18 to the deck ring, or coaming which will ordinarily be but ashort time, and

therefore they will not have togo throughI and the vessel, means forvpressed a1r to sald lower compartment, means l. A- submarine air lockcomprising a chamber having an open bottom, means dividing said chamberinto an upper and a `lower compartment having a door to permit passa ebetween said compartments, means' opera le by the crew within the lowercompartment -for connecting the open bottom thereof with a coamingsurrounding a hatch of a submerged vessel to provide a waterexcludingconnection` between said chamber and the vessel, means for supplyingcompressed air to said lower compartment, means for selectivelymaintaining air under atmospheric or greater than atmospheric pressurewithin said upper compartment, means under the control of the crewwithin said chamber for regulating the buoyancy of said air locl, andmeans movably carri-ed by said chamber, also controllable by the crew,for effecting lateral movements of said air lock. Y

2. A submarine air lock comprising" a chamber having an open bottom,mea-ns dividing lower compartment having a door to permit passagebetween said compartments, .means operable by the crew within the lowercompartment for connecting the open bottom thereof with a coamingsurrounding a hatch of a submerged vessel to provide a waterexcludingconnection between said chamber and the vessel, means forV supplyingcompressed air to said lower compartment, means for selectivelymaintaining air under atmospheric or greater than atmospheric pressurewithin said upper compartment, and means movably carried by saidchamber, controllable by the crew thereof, for effecting nieve-- Amentsof the apparatus necessary to reach the attaching position, said meanscomprising loose weights for regulatin the buoyancy of the air lock, andweig ts flexibly connected to said air lock for also regulating thebuoyancy thereof "and providing anchoring means therefor. l

3. A submarine air lock comprising a chamber having an open bottom,means dividing said chamber into an upper and a lower compartment havinga door to permit passage between said compartments, means operable bythe crew within the lower compartment for connectingl the open bottomthereof with a co-aming surrounding a hatch of a submerged vessel toprovide a waterexcluding connection between said chamber Vsupplying x,comsaid chamber 4into an upper and a v e bottom,

v lock and for selectively maintaining air under atmospheric or greaterIthan atmospheric pressure within said upper compartment, and weights.liexibly and extensibly connected to said air lock, controllable by thecrew thereof, providing shiftable anchoring means therefor.

4. A submarine air lock comprising a chamber having an open bottom,means dividing said chamber into an upper and a lower compartment havinga door to permit passage between said compartments, means operable bythe crew within the lower compartment for connecting the open bottomthereof with a coaming surrounding a hatch of a submerged vessel toprovide a water-excluding connection between said chamber and theVessel, means for selectively or collectively supplying compressed airto' said compartments, means controllable from within said uppercompartment for establishing or cutting off communication between saidcompartment and the atmosphere, and means movably carried by saidchamber, controllable by the crew thereof, for effecting movements ofthe apparatus necessary to reach the attaching position, said meanscomprising loose weights for regulating the buoyancy of the air lock,and weights flexibly connected to said air lock for. also regulating thebuoyancy thereof and providing anchoring means therefor.

5. A submarine air lock comprising 'a chamber having an open bottom,means dividing said chamber into an upper and aV lower compartmenthaving a doo'r to permit passage between said compartments, meansoperable by the crew within the lower compartment for connecting theopen bottom thereof with a coaming surroundin ahatch of a submergedvessel to provi e a water-excluding connection between said chamber andthe vessel, means for supplying compressed air to said lowercompartment, means for selectively maintaining air under atmospheric orgreater than atmospheric pressure within said upper compartment, andmeans movably carried by said chamber, controllable by the crew thereof,for effecting movements of the apparatus necessary to reach theattaching position, said meanscomprising loose weights for regulatingthe buoyancy of the air lock, flexible elements extensible through saidopen and weights on said flexible elements for also providing anchoringmeans.

6. A .submarine air lock comprising a chamber having an open bottom,means dividing said chamber into anupper and a lower compartment havinga door to permit passage between said compartments, means operable bythe crew within the lower compartment fer connecting the aoplen bottomthereof with a coaming surroun 'ng a hatch ofa submerged vessel toprovide a water-excluding connection between said chamber and thevessel, means for supplying compressed air to said lower compartment,means for selectively maintaining air under atmospheric or greater thanatmospheric pressure within said upper compartment, and weights,iexibleconnections for the weights extensibly connected to said air lockand projectable through the said open bottom, the sai'd exibleconnections being controllable by the crew of the air lock,

lo and roviding shiftable anchoring means there or. I K

7. A submarine air lock comprising a chamber having an open bottom,means dividing said chamber into an upper and a lower compartment havinga door to permit passage between said compartments, means operable bythe crew within the lower compartment for connecting the open bottomthereof with a coaming surrounding a hatch of a sub- '20 `merged vesselto provide a water-excluding I 3o of the apparatus necessary to reacconnection between said chamber and the vessel, means for selectively orcollectively supplying compressed air to said compartments, meanscontrollable from within saidupper compartmentl for establishing orcutting o communication between said compartment and the atmosphere, andmeans movably carried by said chamber, controllable by the crew thereof,for eii'ectin movements the attaching position, said means comprisingloose weights for re ulating the buoyancy of the air lock, and exiblemembers connected to the air lock and to ,said weights and extensiblethrough the open bottom of said air lock Jfor also regulating thebuoyancy of the air lock and producing anchoring means therefor.

Signed at the city, county and State of New York, the 21st day of March,1928. 40 JOHN l?. UROURM.

